AFGHANISTAN IS NOT FUNNY Begins Performances This Week at SoHo Playhouse

Following Award-winning engagements at the 2022 Edinburgh, Hollywood and Adelaide Fringe Festivals, Afghanistan Is Not Funny, written and performed by Henry Naylor, bows Off-Broadway this December at SoHo Playhouse (15 Vandam Street). A featured production in this year's Fringe Encore Series, Afghanistan Is Not Funny is directed by Darren Lee Cole and Martha Lott, and will play eight performances only: Dec. 1, 2, 4, 7 and 9 at 7PM; Dec. 3 and 10 at 5PM; and Dec. 11 at 9PM. Tickets, starting at $40.75 (including fees) are available online from SoHoPlayhouse.com or at the Box Office Tuesday - Sunday after 4PM. Discounts are available for groups, students, and seniors.

In 2002, UK comedian and 3-time Edinburgh Fringe First winner Henry Naylor went to the Afghan Warzone with photographer Sam Maynard to conduct research for Naylor's Edinburgh Fringe play Finding Bin Laden. They were threatened by a war criminal, captured by the Mujhadeen, and almost blown up by the Taliban. Now, as the Taliban return to power, Naylor incisively asks: what has been lost in the ruins of Kabul?

Henry Naylor, the recipient of over 45 leading International Fringe Theatre Awards, is one of a handful of artists to have won the Fringe First three times. Recognition for Afghanistan Is Not Funny includes the Soho Playhouse Medal for Dramatic Excellence, Edinburgh Fringe 2022; Best International Show, Hollywood Fringe 2022; Platinum Medal, Tvolution, Hollywood Fringe 2022; Best International Show, TVO Awards, Hollywood Fringe 2022; Best of the Broadwater, Hollywood Fringe 2022; Best Theatre, Adelaide Fringe 2022; Adelaide Critics' Circle Award Winner, Adelaide Fringe 2022. His play Angel was the only Fringe production to have been selected for The Times' (London) 10 Plays of the Year. He was nominated for the Globes de Crystal (France's equivalent of the Golden Globes) and Norway's Heddaprisen.

HENRY NAYLOR

is a multi-award-winning UK playwright, who has been described as 'one of our best new playwrights' in The Times, 'one of our best new playwrights' in The Evening Standard, and 'one of the finest British writers on contemporary events,' in Theatre Extra. In the past few years his plays have won, or been nominated for more than 35 international awards, including one of France's most prestigious awards for the arts, the Globes De Cristal. In 2016, The Times named him along with J.K. Rowling as having written one of the 10 Best Plays of the Year. He is one of only a handful of writers to have won the Fringe First at the Edinburgh Fringe three times and has also won four of the top five Fringe awards in Edinburgh, including the Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award. Three of his plays have had month-long runs off-Broadway, and in 2017 alone there were over 300 public performances of his work, over five continents. His work has been translated into eight languages.

Now in its 15th season, THE INTERNATIONAL FRINGE ENCORE Series will once again convene to bring the "Best of the Fests" home to New York City from November 25th, 2022 through January 8th, 2023. This year's selection committee traveled to many fringes, including The Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival, Brighton Fringe, Cincinnati Fringe Festival, Hollywood Fringe Festival, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and Milano Fringe Festival to select this year's winners for the coveted Off-Broadway runs at SoHo Playhouse. The International Fringe Encore Series is curated by SoHo Playhouse Artistic Director, Darren Lee Cole, Britt LaField (SoHo Playhouse), Scott Morfee (Barrow Street Theatre), Kristina Olson (Barrow Street Theatre), and Matthew Quinn (Theatre Asylum).

SOHO PLAYHOUSE

(Darren Lee Cole, Artistic Director) has been one of Off Broadway's primary venues for new plays for the past 80 years. Formerly "Vandam Playhouse" the theatre has been home to countless dreams and movements. Many actors, directors, choreographers, production designers, theatre managers, technicians, and producers all received their start at SoHo Playhouse. Writers: Sam Shepard, Edward Albee, Tracy Letts, Charles Buch, LeRoi Jones and Lanford Wilson. Award winning shows have included: The Boys in the Band, Killer Joe, The Divine Sister, Mindgame, Krapp, 39, Piaf, Room Service, Jamaica Farewell, Belly of a Drunken Piano, Bukowski From Beyond, The Emperor Jones, Triassic Parq, Rap Guide To Climate Chaos, The Other Josh Cohen, Bill W and Dr Bob, Bright Colors And Bold Patterns, Josephine: A Burlesque Cabaret Dream Play and recently Hannah Gadsby's Nanette, Daniel Sloss X, and Phoebe Waller Bridge in Fleabag. The Playhouse has also proudly served as home to the International Fringe Encore Series since 2005. Mr. Cole has served as Artistic Director since 2004.

Photo credit: Rosalind Furlong

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